Application fraud, fake documents, false information, and visa conditions breach are increasingly being targeted in a “risk-based approach to support the integrity of Australia’s border, immigration, detention and citizenship programs” according to DIBPs Annual report 2012-2013.

The Risk Fraud and Integrity Division (RFID) boasts that it works with local and international agencies to filter out visa fraud at all levels. Comprising of several units focusing on various aspects of the systems integrity, the division in particular administers and enforces Public Interest Criteria 4020 (PIC 4020).

Also known as the "application integrity criteria', PIC 4020 has quietly taken a life of its own over the last few years and has recently survived a court challenge where an applicant's visa refusal, inspite of corrected information, was upheld by the court because the original information provided was false and thus caught by PIC 4020.

Beside visa refusal and cancellation one of the most severe consequences of PIC 4020 is a ten year ban for applicants on making further applications.

Some of the work of the various units of the RFID are set out in DIBP's reports as follows:

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Net inward migration to Australia in the year to March 2014 stood at 380,910 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This is slightly down from the January 2013 figure of 411,000. But, it still amounts to 1.65% of the Australian population which is relatively large. DIBP figures indicate that the Australian government remains committed to attracting around 250,000 immigrants per year for every year at least until 2017.

Where are the migrants settling?

According to the ABS, across the Australian capitals, some common trends in settlement are evident. Suburbs located in or near city centres are strongly favoured by migrants. With the exception of Hobart and Darwin, the central business districts (CBDs) of every capital city in Australia had more than half its residents born overseas in 2011.

Suburbs incorporating or situated near universities also featured high proportions of migrants. These include suburbs like Clayton (70%) in Melbourne, Robertson (62%) in Brisbane, Bentley and Crawley (both 62%) in Perth, Bedford Park (49%) in Adelaide, and Acton (57%) in Canberra.

Migration 2014

This year Migration Alliance has designed a unique conference which is all about shared values in the Australian migration agent space. Migration Alliance is creating a learning experience aimed at having a collective impact on the profession and a lasting impact on personal growth.

‘Together we can have a greater impact than on our own’.

URGENT UPDATE HERE

In the latest migration programme, more places have been made available for the reunion of the closest of family members, partners and children and ‘contributory-parents’. These places have been taken from the other family and parent (non-contributory) categories to maintain the balance of the programme, according to DIBP.

Perhaps the writing has been on the wall for a long time given the lengthy wait periods for the non-contributory parent visas and “Other Family Visa” (which incorporates the aged parent, carer visa and aged dependent relative).

The Budget 2014-2015 has now made it clear that these visas will cease shortly. This is likely to happen before or by the end of this financial year.

“The Family Stream will refocus on meeting the increasing demand for close family reunions. The additional partner and child places will be made available as a result of the cessation of new applications from the other family and parent (non-contributory) places. This cessation will also enable faster processing of existing applications," states the Budget Paper.

Once it ceases, each parent application will be expected to contribute a substantial amount of money as part of the application. Together with the application fees this can come up to about $50,000.00. No date has been set as to when DIBP will stop accepting applications. It would be no surprise if DIBP is inundated with applications in the coming weeks as it is unlikely that lodged applications will be affected by the change, although no details have been released.